Funding of Tertiary Education Institutions

An Overview

The TEC is responsible for allocating public funds amongst the publicly-funded tertiary education institutions (TEIs) viz the University of Mauritius, the University of Technology, Mauritius, the Université des Mascareignes, the Mahatma Gandhi Institute (Tertiary), Rabindranath Tagore Institute (Tertiary) and the Open University of Mauritius. Funding of the TEIs' budget falls under Vote 10-1 of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research. Funds are released to the TEIs in accordance with terms and conditions of the Financial Memorandum signed between the TEC and the TEIs.

The Budget Process

When calling for budgetary proposals from the TEIs, the TEC provides guidelines drawn upon those laid down by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED). The proposed budgets are examined internally, taking into account the long-term plans of the institutions and priorities for the Sector. Whenever required, consultative meetings are held with the institutions concerned, following which the budgetary proposals are submitted to the TEC Board for approval. Once the approval of the TEC Board is obtained, the Budget for the Sector is submitted to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research along with justifications. The Budget is once again examined at the level of the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research and subsequently at the Ministry of Finance & Economic Development. The amount to be allocated to the Sector is finally decided upon by the MoF&ED.

Release of Funds

Funds are released to the TEIs on the basis of quarterly cash flow statements which they submit to the TEC. The TEC makes its recommendations to the Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research on grant to be released. Actual release of recurrent funds is effected on a monthly basis. Capital grants, however are released as and when required within budgetary limits.

Budget Monitoring

On the basis of the grant for the year, an annual budget is prepared for the Sector. This is used for monitoring purposes and is reviewed on a quarterly basis.

Monthly income and expenditure statements together with the bank balances and bank reconciliation statements of the institutions are examined in order to ascertain that sufficient funds are available for the financing of their respective activities.

The budget is also reviewed on a regular basis and recurrent grant is adjusted, if necessary.